


Within

by Braincoins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Season 2 spoilers, mention of NSFW things, prompt, shallura sundays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 13:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9551183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: The search for Shiro is draining Allura. She must find the strength to go on somehow.





	

**Author's Note:**

> \- For the Shallura Sundays prompt: Strength. I'm getting less and less literal with these all the time.
> 
> \- Not actually NSFW but there's mention made of sexy times having happened (albeit in a somewhat strange way). We don't SEE the sexy times. USE YOUR IMAGINATION FOR ONCE. 
> 
> \- “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.” – Anna Freud  
> ==========================

            She wasn’t aware of falling asleep, only of waking in a state of blissful contentment, which was, itself, odd. Allura hadn’t slept well since the aftermath of the battle. She felt she could easily sleep for another ten thousand years but whenever she laid down, sleep was erratic and hard to catch. She pushed on, driving herself – and everyone else – mercilessly. They **had** to figure out what had happened to Shiro.

            How could she rest when Shiro had just disappeared? How could she not do everything possible? She had to be strong, to carry on, to show all of them that they could _do_ this if they just worked at it. They just had to keep going. Don’t give up. Keep pushing. If sheer force of will were enough, they’d have him back already. She would not rest; she would not stop.

Coran sent her away from the bridge after the fourth time she nearly collapsed. She was determined though; she’d find her Black Paladin. What was a little lost sleep compared to the lost leader of Voltron?

            So to wake up in her own bed feeling refreshed was strange. But then she remembered:

            _Shiro. Shiro was here. His hands, his eyes, his smile. Warm and safe and reunited with her. He had held her and she had kissed him, and…_ It was all flashes after that: images and emotions tangled together. She could feel him and taste him, still hear the echo of him off her walls. She had clung to him and cried his name in relief first and then in joy, in ecstasy, over and over. It’d been better than any dream she’d ever had of him – and she’d had many – and, as she had drifted off, she’d made him swear that she wasn’t dreaming this time, that she would wake up next to him.

            _“It’s real,”_ he’d said to her. _“I promise you it’s real.”_

She rolled over to look at the other side of the bed, a smile already beginning to bloom.

            Her bed was empty and cold. There was no indentation in the pillow, nothing to indicate anyone had ever been there. She wasn’t even in her nightgown, but still in the suit she’d been wearing yesterday.

            A sob broke out of her throat. She clutched the bedclothes to her chest and cried.

            She didn’t know how long it took but Coran appeared at her bedside. “Princess! Princess, are you alright?”

            “NO,” she demanded, eyes squeezed shut to try, in vain, to dam the flow of tears. “He was here and he promised and we… he _promised_ it was real and that he would be here but he’s not, HE’S NOT, and I…” Another sob shook her whole body and interrupted her speech. She had to gulp air to continue. “I can’t lose him, Coran. I’ve already lost so many and so much and to realize this just now and he’s _gone_ , Coran, I can’t take it… I…”

            He wrapped his arms around her and she cried against his shoulder. She felt the sobs wracking her frame and she was ashamed of herself for it, because she was a leader, she was a princess – the last princess of Altea – and she should be stronger than this, but to have a dream like that and to wake to nothing? She felt drained, sapped of every bit of strength she had.

            “…it was so real,” she declared petulantly, voice muffled by Coran’s shirt. “And he promised. He _promised_ it was real. That he would be here when I woke up.”

            Coran cleared his throat. “It was a dream, Princess. And, frankly, _you_ weren’t even here until not too long ago.”

            She straightened up quickly. “What do you mean?”

            “I found you a few hours ago, passed out in the Black Lion. Clearly you didn’t go to bed like I meant for you to do; serves me right for just telling you to leave the bridge without being specific. I had Hunk carry you back here so you could sleep properly.”

            She blinked. “I was in the Black Lion?”

            “Yes, in the seat. The lights were on inside, even, though the display was still dark, and…”

            She pushed herself out of Coran’s grasp and scrambled out of bed. She ignored his demands for her to get back and rest. She bolted down the hallway. She nearly knocked over a paladin or two, but she hardly noticed.

            She nearly slammed into the lion when she got in the hangar, stumbling to keep herself upright as she climbed back in. She let the seat bring her to the controls and took hold of them.

            “Shiro!”

            There was nothing. The cockpit was dark.

            “Shiro, please.”

            No response. Her head felt too heavy to hold upright; she squeezed her eyes shut and felt the tears welling back up. “Please,” she whimpered into the silence. “You promised. You _promised_ it was real.”

            _“It is real, Allura.”_

Her head shot up and she looked around. She couldn’t see out of the lion, but the lights had come on in the cockpit, bathing her in a purple glow. “Shiro?”

            _“I’m here. As much as I can be.”_

She started crying again, but she was smiling this time, and the sobs were lessening. “Shiro, I thought we’d lost you! I thought I’d dreamed it all. Oh, are you alright? I’m sorry, my memory is a bit muddled, and I…”

            _“I’m okay. I’m not… quite sure where I am, but I’m mostly sure I’m alive. I don’t feel dead, anyway.”_

“Thank the ancients,” she breathed. “Shiro, we’ll figure out what’s going on. We’ll find a way to get you back. I promise.”

            _“I know you will. Get Slav to help you; he’s the expert on ‘alternate realities’ after all.”_

            She snorted. “He misses you, actually. We all do. But especially me.” She shook her head a little. “Shiro, I… I’m not sure if it was a dream...”

            _“It wasn’t.”_

“I didn’t even tell you what I was talking about.”

            _“You don’t have to, here.”_ She felt something like fingers brush her cheek, but not warm: cold, hard, metal. The touch was gentle and affectionate. _“And it wasn’t a dream.”_

She sniffled gratefully. “We’ll get you back,” she promised again. “And when we do, promise me you won’t ever, _ever_ leave me again.”

            His tone of voice was soft; she had the distinct impression he was smiling. _“I’m not leaving you.”_

She smiled as well. “I’m holding you to that.”

            _“Please do. But you have to promise me something in return.”_

“Anything,” she swore instantly.

            _“That you’ll take care of yourself. You’re ragged, worn down. I can feel you better now than I could… last night, was it? Time is strange here.”_

“Last night, yes.”

            _“You finally got some decent sleep, I take it?”_

“Because of you. Because of…” She blushed.

            _“I’m not sure how it happened, but I’m sure that it did. And I’m glad. But I’d rather be able to really hold you, to wake up next to you.”_

“I want that, too.”

            _“Then get some sleep. Get some food goo into you. The stronger you are, the stronger our connection is here, I think.”_

“Truly?”

            In answer, she felt something press against her lips. She closed her eyes and knew it was Shiro; his kiss was warm, soft, and familiar. Relief flooded her.

            _“Truly,”_ he said, voice quiet. She could almost feel his breath ghosting over her skin.

            She opened her eyes to the lit cockpit. “I wish I could see you.”

            _“Be careful what you wish for; I’m in bad need of a shower.”_

She laughed. “I think I am, too. Will you be here when I come back?”

            _“I promise.”_

“Stay safe.”

            _“Take care.”_ The lights dimmed, but didn’t go out entirely.

            She smiled at the cockpit and patted the controls in thanks. The chair slid back to let her exit. It had been a panicked Allura who had practically thrown herself in here, but it was the Princess of Altea who walked out, head held high. Coran and the paladins were just arriving in the hangar.

            “We have work to do,” she told them, before adding, “after a shower and some breakfast.”


End file.
